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The Doctor Who Audio Dramas
History The DWADs were originally formed in 1982, although some sources list it as 1981, and they are still producing to this date. In 2011, The Doctor Who Audio Dramas began its 30th continuous year of programming. This makes the DWADs the world's longest running continuous production of Doctor Who, beating out the BBC's 26 years which ended in 1989. (Some would argue that the continuous run by the BBC actually ended in 1985 when the show went on hiatus for 18 months during the Colin Baker run.) To date, the Doctor has been played by seven actors: Vincent Savage, David Segal, Jeffrey Coburn, Jym DeNatale, James K. Flynn, R. Douglas Barbieri, and Matthew Chambers. In October 2010, the DWADs claimed 70,000 episode downloads per month. Chronology Pinning down exactly where the DWADs branch off from the BBC canon has been difficult. According to the people at DWAD, they have always stated that the DWADs take place "after the BBC", though a number of fans have surmised that different Doctors are actually alternates to the canonical BBC ones. This is evidenced by the Segal Doctor clearly being a copy of the Fourth Doctor and DeNatale bearing a striking resemblance in mannerisms to the Sixth. Comparisons to other Doctors however, become more difficult as Savage, Coburn, and Flynn cannot be easily compared to other Doctors, while Barbieri is a reflection of the First Doctor. Speaking strongly to the idea that the DWADs follow the BBC is the regeneration scene in Might of the Starry Sea in which all BBC Doctors up to David Tennant are heard in a flashback as well as The Webs of Time which included clips from every BBC Doctor that was canon up to the time the story was made. With Peter Capaldi being the 14th regeneration of The Doctor, it is possible that the DWAD Doctor may be thousands of years older than The Doctor as portrayed in the BBC series. It is worth noting that when referring to his age, the DWAD Doctor is never very specific. For example when Jym DeNatale remarks to Christine about his wisdom, he says something along the lines of, "Christine, if you have lived for millennia like I have, you may understand." By this statement he could be 1000 or 40,000. We just don't know. Productions The Doctor Who Audio Dramas have produced 172 stories spanning 35 seasons. Currently, 52 stories and two individual episodes have been made available for download. * Vincent Savage Era Stories * David Segal Era Stories * Jeffrey Coburn Era Stories * Jym DeNatale Era Stories * James K Flynn Era Stories * R. Douglas Barbieri Era Stories E-Books E-Books based on The Doctor Who Audio Dramas are written by fans without the input of the production team. These e-books are made publicly available on the DWAD message board for people to read, and at least one partial book is listed on the DWAD website proper. However, it has been made clear by the production that these books are not considered part of the canon. For details of all the completed stories so far, read the DWAD E-Books artiDoctor Who Audio Dramas (DWAD), Thecle. Links * DWAD Main Site